Star Realms

Card games might appear to be quite simple on the surface, but the whole point is that they get more complex the more you know about them. The rules are basic and simple-to-learn, yet there are always new things you can discover by playing on a regular basis. Hence, this is why games like Magic: The Gathering and Hearthstone are still so popular years after their official release.

Star Realms is a deck building game which actually doesn’t look that simple at first, not even when you go through the tutorial to learn the ropes. It’s not that there are many things to understand and a lot of gameplay mechanics to familiarize yourself with, but that you are lead to believe things are more complex than they really are. Hence, you just have to keep an open mind and remember to pay attention to the cards.

The goal is to destroy the opponent by bringing his reputation to zero, which is actually just a fancy word for hit points. To do this, you build a deck of cards by spending trade points, which is one of the two resources available in the game. The other is attack power, and it should be fairly obvious how that is used. Moreover, certain cards can be combined to obtain bonus resources, although luck is part of the equation as well.

Each card you buy with trade points is stored in your deck, and you have a chance to draw it whenever you turn comes. As mentioned before, the goal is to deplete your opponent’s reputation, but it’s possible to guard oneself against attacks using base cards. These are placed on the table at all times, and they need to be destroyed first before you can take a shot at the player.

Some of these bases offer other special abilities as well, such as allowing you to choose between extra attack power or trade resources. Others can even be discarded in exchange for a lot more resources, which makes for great last resort efforts and all-in attacks. In fact, the game is very dynamic in this regard, which means that you probably won’t get bored very soon.

In the end, Star Realms could certainly use a better tutorial, but it becomes highly addictive once you get the hang of it and realize how many options you have at your disposal. The theme of the game is very fresh as well, since there are way too many elves and dwarves in the genre.